Author Archives: vinaire

I am originally from India. I am settled in United States since 1969. I love mathematics, philosophy and clarity in thinking.

Education and Self-Learning

November 5, 2015 – 4:06 PM
school1

Reference: Subject: Education

Education in schools seem to be taking a nosedive. The need for self-learning seems to be greater than ever. Self-learning is a life long activity. The student should be self-learning naturally from what he observes, reads and listens. But the current education system seems to make it so difficult that the student gets discouraged and gives up.

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Mathematics & Language Arts

The subjects of mathematics and language-arts are very important. Mathematics helps develop the discipline of critical thinking. Language-arts helps develop the ability to communicate precisely. But these subjects are not taught that way in the school system. The students are increasingly confused and less motivated to learn.

The first action should be to clean up all the confusions that the students have in mathematics and language-arts, and then teach these subjects with the purpose to sharpen critical thinking and communication. This will motivate them to start learning again.

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Development of a Subject

A subject comes about because there is some human need to be met. It has a scope. It starts out with a basic premise. Concepts develop around this premise as the subject develops.  The subject acquires a certain logic. A person who is having difficulty in a subject has holes in his understanding. These holes seem to parallel the logic of the subject.

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Handling of a Subject

So we first clarify for the student the need for the subject, and its scope so he can relate to it. Then we clarify the premise of the subject, and the surrounding concepts. Then we go over later concepts in a logical sequence and resolve remaining confusion.

So we handle confusion of a student in a subject by clarifying the logic of the subject. This tells us that the curriculum for any subject should follow development of its logic starting from its purpose and basic premise. The textbooks also should follow the logical map of the subject, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with most textbooks these days. So, a person, interested in learning, must discover the logic of a subject for himself.

Data on most subjects is available on Internet these days, but the student need to rearrange that data in a logical order to fully understand the subject. This is a skill that needs to be learned. This will need a study course in Self-learning.

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Summary

In short,

  1. The current education system is on a nosedive. It engages the teachers more in testing the student than teaching him. It expects the students to learn from videos and textbooks. This is the case at High School level.
  2. The current education system is weak and inefficient in teaching the students at the earlier elementary and middle school levels. The students end up memorizing the contents of a subject in a rote manner. They are unable to think with the subject.
  3. So, the students arrives at the High School level full of holes in their understanding. They are then pushed through the High School curriculum at a rapid pace, with no regard to their confusion.

Two things must happen before a student can become a self-learner.

  1. We first resolve all holes in his understanding.
  2. Then we put him on a path to Self-learning.

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The Constant “c”

November 5, 2015 – 5:52 AM

einstein

There is sequence of items. Sequence exists because the items can be ordered according to some criterion. All criteria, whether concrete or abstract, reduce to space and time.

Infinite space-time, when disturbed, appears as finite intervals of wavelength-period. The disturbance can have a whole spectrum of relative frequencies. These are electromagnetic waves. This is fundamental energy.

Wavelength and period always appear in a constant ratio referred to as “c”. The constant “c” represents a very fundamental characteristic that involves space and time. It is probably there even when space is undisturbed.

So this constant “c” underlies everything. We may define this constant in terms of arbitrary units of length and time, but the constant is not arbitrary. So all sequences seems to be based, one way or other, on this constant “c”.

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Interface between Space and Mass

November 1, 2015 – 11:12 AM

U6wd6

Counting is an idea of sequence in which we assume numbers of increasing value to occur at equal intervals.

A scale represents gradient values of some characteristic.

The gradient values seem to extend in one direction to infinity and in the other direction to nothing.

“Infinity” is infinitely growing. “Nothing” is infinitely diminishing. We can neither define infinity nor nothing with absolute certainty.

A scale usually assumes a reference point of “zero” with values increasing in a positive direction and decreasing in the opposite negative direction on the scale. This reference point is usually some easily recognizable point, such as, the sea level. It is arbitrary.

A scale also assumes a unit value for the characteristic being measured as “one”. The unit is some easily recognizable measure, such as, the length of a foot. It is also arbitrary.

There is neither an absolute reference point, nor an absolute unit to measure any characteristic.

The sense of unit comes only through presence of an identifiable boundary that separates mass from surrounding space.

The attention shifts from space to mass at the boundary of the unit. This is the case even with an assumed unit within space. The attention shifts from one kind of supposition to another kind.

The shift, as perceived, is never absolute. Therefore, there must be a gradient of energy from space to mass at the boundary of the unit.

This gradient of energy occurs in terms of its frequency. Space is “zero” frequency. Mass is “infinite” frequency.

There is a steep gradient of energy from zero frequency (awareness as space) to extremely high frequency (awareness as mass) at any separation between space and mass.

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The Nature of Space

October 26, 2015 – 9:28 AM

Space

Pure space = Electromagnetic phenomenon at zero frequency.

This is my conjecture. I wonder if we can prove it!

I see pure space similar to the undisturbed surface of a pond. A wave of disturbance moves outwards in a circle on the surface of pond when we lob a stone into it. Similarly, a wave of disturbance travels outwards as a sphere in space from the point of disturbance.

This disturbance travels in space as electromagnetic wave of certain frequency. The electromagnetic waves actually have a whole spectrum of frequency, but the ratio of the wavelength to the period is always constant. Einstein called this constant the speed of light “c”, but it is much more than that.

The constant “c” is the ratio of pure space to pure time.

One may object to the above conjecture by saying that the nature of disturbance within a single media is always in the form of a longitudinal wave. This is the case when sound waves travel within water or air. The transverse wave occurs only at the interface between two media. This is the case when waves travel on the surface of water where it interfaces with air. The electromagnetic waves are transverse in nature yet they travel within 3D volume of space. How do we explain this inconsistency?

It is true that the nature of disturbance in a 3D volume is longitudinal, and that it requires a 2D interface for the disturbance to be transverse. We find that electromagnetic waves are transverse because the disturbance in the volume of space takes place at the interface between electrical and magnetic media. This is an interesting observation about space.

When space is disturbed it splits into electrical and magnetic fields.

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Mathematics of Space and Time

October 9, 2015 – 8:14 PM

mountain-mcescher

Mathematics brings to us the fundamental idea of SEQUENCE. When we count numbers we are following a sequence.

A sequence consists of arrangement of items. The sequence is there because we compare the items in a certain way. There is sequence in time. There is sequence of logic. There is sequence in terms of heights. In fact, sequence is possible in terms of any characteristic.

So, underlying a sequence there is a criterion. It forms the basis of the sequence. Space and time seems to offer the fundamental basis and criteria for sequence.

Both space and time are infinite when undisturbed. When  disturbance takes place space and time seem to become segmented into finite intervals. The “finite interval of space” is the wavelength; the “finite interval of time” is the period.

As the “wavelength” increases or decrease, the “period” also increases and decreases according to a constant ratio. The constant “c”, or “speed of light”, seems to represent this ratio. As wavelength goes to infinite, the period also goes to infinite. It appears that the limiting value of “infinite wavelength over infinite period” is the same constant “c”. This constant may even apply to undisturbed space . This means that space and time are fundamentally entwined in some definite way. Space cannot occur without time; and time cannot occur without space. We define this constant “c” in terms of arbitrary units of length and time. But the constant “c” is not arbitrary.

All sequences seem to be based one way or other on the constant “c”.

To summarize the above, all items in a sequence must have bounds so we can identify and compare them. No bounds apply to undisturbed space and time, which have the characteristic of being infinite. Bounds emerge when there is disturbance of space and time. The disturbance has wave characteristics. Space and time become segmented into sequence of wavelengths and periods. The wavelengths and periods support a constant ratio. We represent this ratio by the constant “c”.

The constant “c” has the unit of “length over time”, which is same as the units of speed. But there is nothing moving in space and time. What we have is disturbance of space and time. Here we may have a real definition of “point”. This “point” has dimensions of wavelength and period.

This “point” starts out with infinite dimension of undisturbed space-time. The “point” reduces in dimension as frequency of disturbance increases. It is possible that “point” at the level of matter is the size of de Broglie’s wavelength.

This makes it possible to do away with the arbitrary notion of Euclidean point.

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